James Willstrop’s publicity picture for Daddy, Will I Be A Man Tomorrow?
JAMES Willstrop thrives on taking centre stage, whether seeking to dominate the international squash court or playing leading man in Yorkshire musical theatre productions.
This, however, is different. This is Willstrop solo, no opponent to beat, no fellow cast members by his side, albeit with musical director Sam Johnson omnipresent on keyboards behind him.
A Fringe solo show is new terrain for Harrogate action man Willstrop, 50 minutes of self-lacerating examination conducted as a training exercise, sweat band on his fevered brow, squash racket in hand, kit bag by his side. And two chairs, as if he is both psychiatrist and patient.
No smashed rackets to report. Instead, in the most adept physical element of his musical monodrama, Willstrop transforms “Push, push” from his gruelling fitness regime into the racket becoming a baby cradled in his arms. Later, when conducting a dad-and-lad chat, the racket serves as his son Logan.
Willstrop conducts multiple conversations in those 50 minutes, sometimes with his late mother, Lesley, sometimes with his wife Vanessa, sometimes with Logan, sometimes with himself, sometimes breaking down theatre’s fourth wall to speak directly with his audience as he asks: “Where’s the solution when two dreams collide?”. Squash champion or putative parent?
The poster for James Willstrop’s York preview of Daddy, Will I Be A Man Tomorrow?
Interestingly, his main opponent here is Willstrop himself, the younger James, the one chasing those dreams of being the world’s number one squash player, and in doing so pushing his relationship with fellow squash player Vanessa to the limit. Likewise, he puts himself in a bad light in regretful reflection on not spending enough time with his ailing mum in his teenage days.
In exploring what success really means and what really matters, there is less joy than you might expect, although Willstrop excels in the show’s comedic moments, especially when multi-role-playing. A psychiatrist would surely tell him he is being too harsh on himself.
Johnson has put the musical flesh on Willstrop’s skeletal, narrative songs, the best being his candid confessional tale of his IVF experiences. The York preview exposed the need for a microphone. Happy to report that James is now using one for Edinurgh Fringe run at The Space @ Niddry Street (Lower).
James Willstrop in Daddy, Tomorrow Will I Be A Man?, Edinburgh Fringe, Venue 9, The Space@Niddry Street (Lower), August 13 to 16, 5.25pm; August 18 to 23, 7.25pm. Box office: 0131 2260000 or edfringe.com. Age guidance: 12 plus.
Sonnets In Bloom script writer Natalie Roe, left, and director Josie Connor on a churchyard bench at Holly Trinity, Goodramgate, York, where the 50-minute performances will be staged
YORK Shakespeare Project’s summer celebration of Shakespeare’s sonnets returns to the churchyard of Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, York, from August 15 to August 23.
In the ninth iteration of these annual YSP shows, Sonnets In Bloom brings together the Bard, director Josie Connor, scenario scriptwriter Natalie Roe and a cast of 12 sonneteers.
“The last two shows have attracted record audiences so we’re delighted again to be offering a summer taste of Shakespeare that is both entertaining and accessible,” says producer Maurice Crichton.
The year’s show has been scripted by Natalie Roe in her first involvement with YSP’s Sonnets project. “Natalie has incorporated a record 13 sonnets into her script, including seven that have not featured in previous YSP productions,” says Maurice.
“Shakespeare wrote at least 154 sonnets. We have plenty more to go at but the new ones in this show mean we will have featured more than a third of the total across the nine sonnets productions we have so far put on.”
In Natalie’s script, “Reverend Planter is very excited that his church is hosting the regional leg of Summer in Bloom. You are all warmly invited to enjoy a complimentary drink and to see the goings-on. Participants are arriving with their prized entries, some more competitive than others. But where is the special guest? And who will win the People’s Vote?”
“The churchyard and Goodramgate were very inspiring,” says Natalie. “There are lots of little references that I’ve put in because, if you know a space well, why not?! So there are references to the trees and the shops and restaurants on the street.
“I’ve been inspired by the nature in Shakespeare’s sonnets. It was being outside in the gardens at Bar Convent for the Sonnets there that gave me the idea of using sonnets full of nature and growth.”
Natalie has a copy of Shakespeare’s Sonnets that she bought on a National Express coach trip to Anne Hathaway’s Cottage at Stratford-upon-Avon in her school days. “It’s full of stars and love hearts next to the parts that I particularly liked as a moody teenager,” she says.
“For Sonnets In Bloom, I went through it and picked ones that fitted with performing outdoor theatre in a beautiful churchyard setting in the summer, and that’s why we have the setting of a church flower show, which is ripe for having lots of comedic characters, and then thinking about which sonnet would suit them.” Step forward Reverend Planter, the grave digger and assorted members of the congregation.
“It’s lovely to be able to create characters around a concentrated theme and the concentrated emotions in the sonnets, where I enjoy the richness of the imagery and there’s a frequently a metaphor that is then beautifully elaborated on.
“When writing the monologue that leads into each sonnet, what I’m looking for is for the character to have a dilemma, and in some ways Shakespeare’s sonnets come with the dilemmas ready made.”
York Shakespeare Project’s poster for Sonnets In Bloom 2025
Josie Connor is directing YSP for the first time, having worked with Natalie previously when she directed her script, Leaves, for York Settlement Community Players’ pub theatre initiative, The Direct Approach, in 2023.
“When Nat contacted me about Sonnets In Bloom, there was no doubt in my mind about saying yes,” says Josie. “I had heard Nat speak about the Sonnets shows in previous conversations and why they’re such a hit each year, I was very excited to be asked to be a part of this collaborative project this year – and her script compliments the churchyard setting brilliantly.
“Working with Nat is always a pleasure. Her work has great realness with comedic timing, even in dramas, and I think we’re both fans of creative collaboration. Nat and I met on a film set in 2017, where I saw her understanding for production as a whole, so reconnecting again to collaborate creatively while I’m building as a director was a no-brainer.”
In turn, Natalie says: “I was already a friend of Josie when she directed Leaves for The Direct Approach. Scripts are sent in anonymously, and she picked mine before knowing it was by me, so the play found her.”
Now they are in tandem again, working on Sonnets In Bloom’s wide variety of colourful characters, who each find an opportunity to give voice to one of Shakespeare’s sonnets.
This year, the cast of 12 is mostly new to the Sonnet shows and younger too. “Only three performers have been involved previously, and with a new writer and a first-time Sonnets director, this production will take a fresh look at a trusted format,” says Maurice.
The cast in full comprises new sonneteers Harry Summers, James Tyler,Stuart Lindsay, Benjamin Rowley, Oliver Taylor, Tom Langley, Annie Dunbar, Lily Geering and Stuart Green, alongside returnees Grace Scott, Emilie Knight and Xandra Logan.
“When we were casting, we were looking out for the usual understanding of what they’re reading, energy and wanted to see not only what they could offer, but mainly see how and if each actor takes direction,” says Josie.
“That’s a very important part in the casting process; it reassures me that they will work well with any other actor, location and situation they’re put in.”
One last question for Josie: What can Shakespeare say in a sonnet that he cannot in a three-hour play?! “Let me call him and get back to you on that…do you think he’d be in the Yellow Pages?” she says.
York Shakespeare Project in Sonnets In Bloom, Holy Trinity churchyard, Goodramgate, York, August 15 to 23, 6pm and 7.30pm, plus 4.30pm, August 16 and 23. Box office: 01904 623568; yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/show/sonnets-in-bloom-2025/; in person from York Theatre Royal box office. Running time: 50 minutes.
What’s coming up next for Josie Connor?
“I HAVE some exciting projects in the near future/next year, which will continue my directing path,” she says. “However, for now I’m keen to collaborate with more actors and try out new pieces!”
York writer-director Matt Aston, left, walking through Leeds with The Wedding Present’s singer, lyricist, guitarist and only permanent member, David Gedge
THIS is a story of love gone wrong, love gone right and then love gone wrong again, in keeping with David Gedge’s songs that inspired Reception, The Wedding Present Musical.
Presented by Perfect Blue Productions and York writer-director Matt Aston’s company Engine House Theatre, the world premiere will be staged at Slung Low’s theatre space, The Warehouse, in Holbeck, Leeds, from August 22 to September 6.
The plot opens in 1985, the year when Leeds University mathematics student Gedge formed The Wedding Present. That summer, a group of Leeds friends is celebrating the end of university days, but life does not always work out as planned.
Events both unfold and entangle at a graduation ceremony, funeral, wedding and, of course, the receptions that follow over a span of five turbulent years. You should always keep in touch with your friends…or should you, asks Aston, as he explores how we grow together and apart.
Featuring songs by Leeds-born Gedge’s semi-legendary indie band, full of frantic energy and distorted guitars,and his more cinematic, French pop-inspired group Cinerama,this new musical heads back to the sticky dance floors and crimped hair of 1980s’ Leeds for a coming-of-age story of love, friendship, growing up, regret and reconnection.
Reception marks the 40th anniversary of The Wedding Present’s debut single, Go Out And Get ’Em Boy, the first of many to be aired by late-night BBC Radio One maverick John Peel, who once said: “The boy Gedge has written some of the best love songs of the rock’n’roll era. You may dispute this, but I’m right and you’re wrong!”
The “Weddoes” chalked up 18 Top 40 singles and built a devoted cult following – Aston, for example, has seen them in concert more than 50 times – drawn to the searing wit and narrative candour of Gedge’s arch, romantic yet perennially disappointed songs of love and longing, life’s high hopes and low blows, break-ups and breakdowns, chance and no chance.
The likes of indie classics My Favourite Dress, Kennedy, Brassneck and Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft will be performed in new arrangements by Aston’s dynamic ensemble of actor-musicians, along with a new Gedge composition, written expressly for the premiere.
“It was almost 20 years ago when I had the first inkling that a Wedding Present musical might work,” says Matt. “David had returned to Leeds to perform a selection of his songs with the BBC Big Band for Radio 3.
“The arrangements for the songs were astonishing, as different as you could possible imagine but David’s lyrical and conversational storytelling still shone through. His lyrics are cinematic, emotional and rich with story – they felt naturally theatrical.
“Then later seeing Wedding Present and Cinerama concerts backed with 16-piece orchestras and full choirs helped cement the thought that the songs could work perfectly in a musical.
“Early in 2019 I met Tony Ereira, director of Leeds-based record labels Come Play With Me and Clue Records, at – where else?! – a Wedding Present gig in Leeds, and the idea of getting the play off the ground started take shape.
“Now, with this phenomenal cast of multi-talented actor-musicians, we’ve found the perfect group to bring that vision to life with heart, humour and edge. I couldn’t be more excited.”
Guitarist, lyricist and singer David is intrigued by what lies in store at The Warehouse: “When Matt approached me with the idea of a Wedding Present musical, I was intrigued…I’d never imagined my songs being used in a musical, but I loved how Mamma Mia! reimagined ABBA, and I’ve always been up for trying new things,” he says. “I’m excited to see how the show brings the songs to life in a new way.”
Tickets for a musical that “thrums with real emotion, biting wit and restless energy, like the band that inspired it” are on sale on 0113 213 7700 or at leedsplayhouse.org.uk. Wedding Guest table packages are available.
Writer-director Matt Aston, back row, left, and The Wedding Present and Cinerama frontman David Gedge, back row, right, with cast members for Reception: The Wedding Present Musical. Picture: Northedge Photography
Who will be in the cast for Reception, The Wedding Present Musical?
Zoe Allan as Rachel
Rachel is a confident yet vulnerable graduate of Leeds University who, having experienced loss and pain early in life, has carefully planned a future of love and security. Or so she thought.
Zoe is a passionate working-class performer from the North East with a versatile background across stage, screen and independent film projects. Her credits include Pippin, directed by Barbara Houseman, and When We Strike, an original musical developed by BYMT.
She graduated from Leeds Conservatoire’s Musical Theatre programme and is excited to be back in Leeds for this production.
Lawrence Hodgson‐Mullings as Harry
Harry is Rachel’s first love. Leeds born and bred, he has never left Yorkshire and dreams of adventure before settling down.
Leeds native Lawrence can next be seen in Sally Wainwright’s Riot Women for Drama Republic and the BBC. His screen work includes Fool Me Once (Netflix), Catherine Called Birdy (Working Title), complemented by stage roles in The Enormous Crocodile (Leeds Playhouse/Regent’s Park), Dick Whittington (National Theatre), and The Panopticon (National Theatre of Scotland).
After cutting his teeth with Leeds Playhouse Youth Theatre, he trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and was a Spotlight Prize finalist. He is a violinist and baritone singer too.
Richard Lounds as John
John is Harry’s best friend. A couple of years older than the rest, he is a source of steady support and advice.
Richard is a performer, musician and dramaturg who trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. His credits include LIFELINE Off-Broadway(Signature Theatre, New York), The Storm Whale ((Little Angel, York Theatre Royal), The Secret Garden (Tabard Theatre), The Mould That Changed The World and Mr Men And Little Miss On Stage. As a vocalist, he has toured internationally and was a choral scholar at Merton College, Oxford.
Amara Latchford as Sally
Sally is Rachel’s best friend and John’s on/off girlfriend. She has loved university life but is ready for what’s next.
Amara is a graduate of Leeds Conservatoire’s Actor Musician programme, who plays piano, guitar and violin. Their credits include Vernon God Little (Leeds Conservatoire, 2024); The Boy Who Cried Wolf (Tutti Frutti, 2024); The Polar Express (London Euston, 20th Anniversary, 2024); The Storm And The Minotaur (Slung Low, 2025), and All My Pretty Ones (Birmingham Rep, 2025).
Particularly passionate about movement, and ways stories can be communicated through the body, they are training in Kung Fu and various dance styles. Drawing on their wealth of experience in songwriting and composing their own music, they aim to release an EP at the end of the summer.
They describe themselves as a creative octopus, with a vibrant curiosity and desire to explore as many creative avenues as humanly possible. Others have described Amara as a bold and fearless performer.
Matthew Bugg as Dad
Dad to Rachel and Joe, he has moved to Leeds to be close to them after a shared family tragedy.
Matthew, a theatre artist with 25 years’ experiences across many disciplines, is the creator of Miss Nightingale, writing, directing and performing in the hit musical that toured the UK five times between 2011 and 2017, then played the Vaults and Hippodrome Theatre in London.
Jack Hardy in rehearsal for his role as Keir/Keith/Kevin. Picture: Northedge Photography
He has worked as an actor, choreographer or composer on seven other West End shows including Zorro, The Secret Of Sherlock Holmes, Dear Lupin, Our Man In Havana and Cirque Berserk.
Touring works include: King Lear (ATG); Angelina Ballerina (UK and international tour); The Handyman; Star Quality; Lark Rise To Candleford; Quartet; The Hound Of The Baskervilles; Northanger Abbey; Jamaica Inn; Three Men In A Boat and numerous shows for the Agatha Christie Company.
He teaches musical theatre at Leeds Conservatoire and has extensive experience as a composer, lyricist and musical director. He is an active member of Mercury Musicals Development and a judge for the Stiles and Drewe songwriting competition.
Rebecca Levy as Estrella
Estrella is a mature, perpetual student, who has done course after course. She thinks she is better than everyone else… and probably is. But she means well.
Rebecca graduated from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in 2016 and is an actor, singer-songwriter and youth facilitator. Her credits include Rapunzel (Liverpool Everyman); Cinderella, Vernons Girls (Royal Court, Liverpool), A Letter To Harvey Milk and Mamma Mia! The Party. She released her debut album, How to Keep Your Girlfriend 101, in 2019. She is an emerging composer, with credits including Animal Farm for NYMT.
Hannah Nuttall as Jane
Jane is the quiet one of the group…most of the time. A Doris Day obsessive and happily single, she is not quite sure where life will take her next.
Hannah trained at Italia Conti Academy. Her credits include Yeast Nation (Southwark Playhouse), Dick Whittington, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella (Theatre Royal Wakefield), Soho Songs (Crazy Coqs) and In The Time Of Dragons. She is a theatre educator and composer too, including for The Girl Who Saved The Sea (Beansprout Theatre Company).
Zach Burns as Joe
Joe is Rachel’s younger brother – a fact her friends never let him forget. Mature beyond his years, he is finding his place in the world.
Zach trained at the Royal Academy of Music. Credits include Yesterday (Workshop), Sleeping Beauty (Radlett Centre), and Potty The Plant (Edinburgh Fringe). He has recording credits as a vocalist on The Sandman (Netflix) and Idols (Yungblud) and is known for his work in new musical theatre and actor-musician collaborations.
Caitlin Lavagna as Emma
Emma is the rector of Leeds Minster, an upstanding and respected member of the local community.
Caitlin is a Welsh-Gibraltarian actor-musician, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist who graduated from Rose Bruford College. Credits include Housemates (Sherman Theatre, Cardiff), Operation Julie(Theatr na nÓg), Vernons Girls (Royal Court, Liverpool), and Fisherman’s Friends: The Musical.
Also a singer-songwriter, whose single October won Best Actress and Best Music Video at the Celynen Film Festival. She was named Best Female Act at the 2025 Radio Wigwam Awards. Drummer and vocalist for the band Big Wednesday.
Jack Hardy as Keir/Keith/Kevin
Barman at the pub that hosts all the receptions, although no-one ever gets his name right. A political activist with big ambitions, he is searching for his voice.
Leeds-born actor and musician Jack attained A Levels at CAPA College before continuing his journey at ArtsEd on the BA Acting course. From 2021 to 2024, he completed his training on the Actor Musician BA programme at Leeds Conservatoire. Multi-instrumentalist musician, playing piano, guitar, synth, bass, drums and voice. Passionate writer and songwriter with a love for stories that blend music and performance.
Matt Aston on a bench in Rowntree Park, York, when directing Park Bench Theatre under Covid restrictions. Picture: Livy Potter
Did you know?
RECEPTION writer-director Matt Aston’s credits include The Storm Whale and Grandad’s Island at York Theatre Royal and the Park Bench Theatre seasons in Rowntree Park, York, as well as directing Line Of Duty star Vicky McLure in Stephen Lowe’s Touched, James Bolam in William Ivory’s Bomber’s Moon and David Mamet’s Oleanna with Alistair McGowan.
Artistic director of Engine House Theatre and winner of the Writers Guild of Great Britain Award for Encouragement of New Writing.
The Wedding Present to release 40th anniversary retrospective 40 on September 19 on vinyl and CD
Jonathan Hitchen’s artwork for The Wedding Present’s compilation album 40
ON September 19, CLUE Records will release 40, a “chronological, aural journey” through The Wedding Present’s album tracks, singles and B-sides. Frosted clear quadruple vinyl box sets and quadruple CD sets are available for pre-order at https://cluerecords.myshopify.com/collections/the-wedding-present-40.
After 13 studio albums, 20 compilations and a heap of singles, EPs, live albums and live sessions – with more on the way – 40 will be a “commemorative reflection of this complex and fascinating catalogue”.
Artwork by the Weddoes’ regular cover designer Jonathan Hitchen will be complemented by extensive sleeve notes by David Gedge, along with music writer Mark Beaumont. Gedge’s commentary provides an insight into the workings of his band and a track-by-track guide to the compilation.
The track listing will be: Side A/CD1, Go Out And Get ’Em Boy; You Should Always Keep In Touch With Your Friends; Anyone Can Make A Mistake; Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft; A Million Miles; My Favourite Dress.
Side B/CD1, Nobody’s Twisting Your Arm; Davni Chasy; Give My Love To Kevin (Acoustic Version); Kennedy; What Have I Said Now.
Side C/CD2, Bewitched; Take Me!; Brassneck; Crawl. Side D/CD2, Dalliance; Dare; Suck; Blonde; Corduroy. Side E/CD2, Heather; Blue Eyes; Come Play With Me; Flying Saucer; Click Click.
Side F/CD3, Spangle; Convertible; Montreal; Kansas; I’m From Further North Than You ; Interstate 5. Side G/CD4, Perfect Blue; Don’t Take Me Home Until I’m Drunk; Boo Boo; Deer Caught In The Headlights. Side H/CD4, Two Bridges; Rachel; I Am Not Going To Fall In Love With You; Science Fiction; Hot Wheels.
Two Big Egos In A Small Car podcast special with David Gedge
The Wedding Present’s David Gedge with Two Big Egos In A Small Car podcaster Charles Hutchinson, pictured outside Leeds University Union in April 2025
Listen to David Gedge discuss 40 years Of The Wedding Present, the Reception musical and his Rise@Bluebird Bakery show with Two Big Egos In A Small Car podcasters Charles Hutchinson and Graham Chalmers at:
Bojan Čičić: “Three-line whip for any lover of the Baroque violin”
THE appearance of Bojan Čičić in this neck of woods is a three-line whip for any lover of the Baroque violin. He scoots all over Europe directing top-notch ensembles, but always seems to find time to fit York into his crammed schedule.
Here he was leading the Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) – a dozen strings and a harpsichord – in a Bach programme entitled Concerto Heaven: three concertos and an ouverture, providing the festival’s finale.
Bach’s ‘ouvertures’ are essentially suites; here, in No 3 in D major, an intro, an air and four dances. The dances were truly balletic and the final gigue had a comfortable lilt.
The concertos contained the real fireworks. The first, BWV1041 in A minor, was actually clean and unfussy – until its furious finale. Wonderfully vivacious, too, was the opening Allegro of the D minor Concerto, and its finish, after the solemnity of its slow movement, a real tonic.
But between these two we had a sensational account of BWV1042 in E major. Here Čičić elected to have merely five strings and harpsichord as accompaniment. There was a dazzling cadenza in the first movement, in which one could have sworn he was playing several instruments at once, so rapid the figurations and so distinctive the registers.
Yet equally mesmerising was the wistful Adagio, while his capricious episodes in the rondo-style finale were never less than tasty.
We should not forget that the AAM, now over half a century in being, offers consistently thrilling support which gives wings to Bojan’s flights of fancy. A wonderfully upbeat finish to the festival.
Waldstein Trio’s Christos Fountos, Greta Papa and Miguel Ángel Villeda Cerón
UNDER its 2025 theme of Sonnet, North York Moors Chamber Music Festival takes quotations from poetry for each of its 14 events, with four of them – those that take place in churches – extracted from T S Eliot’s Four Quartets.
They also act as identifiers of each event, since the ensembles, all assembled from the pool of highly talented musicians holidaying on the moors, are otherwise anonymous.
One group, however, can be identified at once, since the honour of opening the festivities fell to the Waldstein Trio, winners of the Young Artists Focus award this year. Although the trio has already won a number of awards in its three years’ existence, its choice of Beethoven’s last piano trio, Op 97 in G (‘Archduke’) – a work that offers no hiding places – revealed some shortcomings.
All three are talented performers, but they are at different stages in the evolution of their musical personalities. The Mexican cellist Miguel Ángel Villeda Cerón is a fully rounded player, delivering nicely rounded tone that inspires confidence in his judgement. His colleagues are not yet quite at that level.
Pianist Daniel Lebhardt. Picture: Matthew Johnson
The Greek-Albanian violinist Greta Papa is another good player, but here she swapped her musicality for an almost permanent smile. Nothing wrong with a smile but here it seemed to mask nerves: at any rate, she lacked the conviction to balance her string colleague.
The Cypriot pianist Christos Fountos never really settled. Too many of his accents were hammered: accents need to steal up on the listener, not thump them between the eyeballs. His passage-work was also suspect, too many rapid runs not clearly articulated. He may well be a better soloist than collaborator.
There was little grandeur in Beethoven’s opening theme, but the scherzo was crisp with some neat touches of rubato. The andante promised to cast a spell several times, but it was interrupted by over-eager piano. The finale was much more even-tempered, with a pleasing accelerando into its coda.
Musicianship of a different order was on display after the interval. Benjamin Baker’s fluent violin allowed Schumann to speak to us directly through his Three Romances Op 94, never forcing the tone. The first emerged as a sinuous lament, the second evoked a beautifully songful line, and the third was sprightly. Daniel Lebhardt’s piano provided sympathetic support.
Violinist Charlotte Scott: “Luscious tone and rapt attention to detail”
Lebhardt also offered the first two extracts from Book 1 of Janacek’s On An Overgrown Path, ten evocations of childhood memories, which are being interwoven into festival programmes. They were gently intimate, with the odd surprise.
Brahms’s First Violin Sonata, Op 78 in G, brought the return of another festival favourite, Charlotte Scott, with Joseph Havlat as her pianist. They were exceptionally well-matched.
Havlat came to the fore whenever needed but never intruded on Scott’s luscious tone and rapt attention to detail. They clearly experienced the first movement’s surges of emotion together. Scott’s double-stopping accompaniment in the Adagio was as remarkable as her luscious melodic line. The duo’s exchanges in the closing rondo flowed smoothly and purposefully. This was playing of the highest calibre.
Review by Martin Dreyer
The festival continues with daily concerts until August 23. For full festival details and tickets, head to: www.northyorkmoorsfestival.com
Sonnets In Bloom scriptwriter Natalie Roe, left, and director Josie Connor on a churchyard bench at Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, where York Shakespeare Project’s summer production is being staged
FROM War Horse to Leeds Festival, the Wedding Present musical to Bombay Bicycle Club, August puts the highs into Charles Hutchinson’s summer.
Churchyard drama of the week: York Shakespeare Project presents Sonnets In Bloom, Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, York, August 15 to 23, 6pm and 7.30pm, plus 4.30pm, August 16 and August 23
REVEREND Planter is very excited that his church is hosting the regional leg of Summer in Bloom. You are warmly invited to enjoy a complimentary drink and to see the goings-on. Participants will be arriving with their prized entries, some more competitive than others, but where is the special guest? And who will win the People’s Vote?
Welcome back Sonnets In Bloom as YSP’s 50-minute summer show returns to Holy Trinity’s churchyard with a new director, Josie Connor, new scenario script writer, Natalie Roe, and nine new sonneteers among the dozen presenting a new collection of characters, each finding a way to share one of Shakespeare’s celebrated sonnets. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. Age recommendation: 14 plus.
Lucy Hook Designs’ poster for York River Art Market’s tenth anniversary
Art event of the weekend: York River Art Market, Dame Judi Dench Walk, by Lendal Bridge, York, August 16 and 17, 10am to 5.30pm
YORK River Art Market returns for its tenth anniversary season by the Ouse riverside railings, where 30 artists and designers will be setting up stalls each day.
Organised by York artist and tutor Charlotte Dawson, the market offers the chance to buy directly from the makers of ceramics, jewellery, paintings, prints, photographs, clothing, candles, soaps, cards and more besides. Admission is free.
Tom Sturgess (Albert Narracott), Diany Samba-Bandza, Jordan Paris and Eloise Beaumont-Wood (Baby Joey) in War Horse, on tour at Leeds Grand Theatre. Picture: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg
Yorkshire theatre event of the week: National Theatre in War Horse, Leeds Grand Theatre, August 19 to September 6
WAR Horse, adapted from Michael Morpurgo’s novel by Nick Stafford and originally directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, has become the most successful play in the National Theatre’s history, collecting more than 25 awards and playing to 8.3 million people worldwide.
Now comes an all-new tour, co-produced with Michael Harrison, Fiery Angel and Playing Field, that takes audiences on an extraordinary journey from rural Devon to the trenches of First World War France. Life-sized horses by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company bring breathing, galloping, charging equines to thrilling life on stage. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
Chappell Roan: Performing her biggest British show yet at Leeds Festival on August 23. Picture: from Leeds Festival website
Festival of the week: Leeds Festival, Bramham Park, near Wetherby, August 21 to 24
ALWAYS the festival to mark the end of the summer season of outdoor joys, Leeds Festival welcomes Travis Scott as the Friday headliner in his only European festival appearance. Sammy Virji, D-Block Europe, Trippie Redd and Amyl And The Sniffers are in action on that day too.
The Saturday bill features Hozier, Chappell Roan, in the Midwest Princess’s biggest UK show yet, AJ Tracey, The Kooks, Bloc Party and Rudim3ntal, while the Sunday finale presents Bring Me The Horizon, Limp Bizkit, Becky Hill, Enter Shakiri and Wunderhorse. For the full line-up and ticket details, head to: leedsfestival.com.
Lachlan Bryan & The Wildes: Playing Rise@Bluebird Bakery. Picture: Richard Reid
Australian double bill of the week: Lachlan Bryan & The Wildes and Melody Pool , Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb York, August 21, doors open at 7.30pm
LACHLAN Bryan & The Wildes are appearing in “full band mode” in the UK for the first time this summer, stopping off at Rise. Until now, at Maverick Festival in 2019, 2023 and 2024 and shows around these isles as headliners or supporting good friends Hannah Aldridge and Alan Fletcher, the band has travelled the Northern Hemisphere mostly as a three-piece.
That all changes as the usual suspects, Melbourne storyteller Lachlan, guitarist Riley Catherall and bass player Shaun Ryan, are joined by Ben Middleton on drums and Yorkshire’s own Emily Lawler on the fiddle and viola. Australian songwriter Melody Pool supports. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.
The cast for Reception with writer-director Matt Aston, back row, far left, and The Wedding Present’s David Gedge, back row, far right, at Slung Low, The Warehouse, Holbeck, Leeds. Picture: Northedge Photography
Musical world premiere of the week: Perfect Blue Productions and Engine House Theatre present Reception, The Wedding Present Musical, at Slung Low, The Warehouse, Holbeck, Leeds, August 22 to September 6
SET in 1980s’ Leeds, Reception: The Wedding Present Musical follows a group of university friends whose lives remain entangled over five turbulent years. Through weddings, funerals, graduations – and, of course, the receptions that follow – York writer-director Matt Aston’s new drama explores how we grow together and apart, all scored to David Gedge’s 40 years of searingly personal, sharply observed song-writing for The Wedding Present and Cinerama.
Like the Leeds band that inspired it, the musical thrums with raw emotion, biting wit and restless energy, performed by a dynamic ensemble of actor-musicians, weaving a story of love, regret and reconnection through the melodic force of Gedge’s music. Box office: 0113 213 7700 or leedsplayhouse.org.uk.
Bombay Bicycle Club: Riding into York Barbican on August 22. Picture: from Bombay Bicycle Club website
York gig of the week: Bombay Bicycle Club, supported by Divorce, York Barbican, August 22, doors 7pm
LED as ever by vocalist, pianist and guitarist Jack Steadman, Bombay Bicycle Club’s set list will draw on songs from the Crouch End band’s six albums that span folk, electronica and world music, as well as indie guitar rock. The latest addition, 2023’s My Big Day, parades a revelatory set of vibrant, joyous compositions that bask in the sunshine. Feel the heat next Friday. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Luke Haines & Peter Buck: Teaming up at Pocklington Arts Centre
Gig of the week outside York: Luke Haines & Peter Buck, Pocklington Arts Centre, August 22, 8pm
LUKE Haines, Walton-on-Thames musician, songwriter and author of Freaks Out! and Bad Vibes: Britpop And My Part In Its Downfall, is best known for his bands The Auteurs, Baader Meinhof and Black Box Recorder. Now his collaborator is Peter Buck, co-founder and lead guitarist of R.E.M for 31 years.
On July 28, Haines & Buck released the third in their “psychiatric trilogy” of albums, Going Down To The River…To Blow My Mind,following Beat Poetry for Survivalists in 2020 and All The Kids Are Super Bummed Out in 2022. Their tour takes in further Yorkshire gigs at Hebden Bridge Trades Club on August 27 and Leeds Brudenell Social Club on August 28. The Minus 5 support. Box office: Pocklington, for returns only, 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk; Hebden Bridge, thetradesclub.com/events/hainesbuck; Leeds, brudenellsocialclub.co.uk.
Sonnets In Bloom script writer Natalie Roe, left, and director Josie Connor in the Holy Trinity churchyard in Goodramgate, York
SHAKESPEARE in poetic full bloom, arguably the best ever British farce and moorland classical music lead off Charles Hutchinson’s case for not going on holiday in August.
Poetic return of the week: York Shakespeare Project presents Sonnets In Bloom, Holy Trinity churchyard, Goodramgate, York, August 15 to 23, 6pm and 7.30pm, plus 4.30pm, August 16 and 23
REVEREND Planter is very excited that his church is hosting the regional leg of Summer in Bloom. You are warmly invited to enjoy a complimentary drink and to see the goings-on. Participants will be arriving with their prized entries, some more competitive than others, but where is the special guest? And who will win the People’s Vote?
Welcome back Sonnets In Bloom as YSP’s 50-minute summer show returns to Holy Trinity’s churchyard with a new director, Josie Connor, new scenario script writer, Natalie Roe, and nine new sonneteers among the dozen presenting a new collection of characters, each finding a way to share one of Shakespeare’s celebrated sonnets. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. Age recommendation: 14 plus.
Lucy Hook Designs’ poster for York River Art Market’s tenth anniversary
Art event of the week: York River Art Market, Dame Judi Dench Walk, by Lendal Bridge, York, August 16 and 17, 10am to 5.30pm
YORK River Art Market returns for its tenth anniversary season by the Ouse riverside railings, where 30 artists and designers will be setting up stalls each day.
Organised by York artist and tutor Charlotte Dawson, the market offers the chance to buy directly from the makers of ceramics, jewellery, paintings, prints, photographs, clothing, candles, soaps, cards and more besides. Admission is free.
Alex Phelps and Valerie Antwi in Michael Frayn’s Noises Off at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Farce of the week: Noises Off, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until September 6, 7.30pm plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
SJT artistic director Paul Robinson directs the first ever in-the-round production of Michael Frayn’s legendary 1982 farce with its play-within-a-play structure. “Good luck!” said the playwright on hearing the Scarborough theatre was taking on what has always been considered an impossible task.
Noises Off follows the on and off-stage antics of a touring theatre company stumbling its way through the fictional farce Nothing On. Across three acts, Frayn charts the shambolic final rehearsals, a disastrous matinee, seen entirely from backstage, and the catastrophic final performance. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Jamie Walton: North York Moors Chamber Music Festival director and cellist. Picture: Matthew Johnson
Festival of the week: North York Moors Chamber Music Festival, until August 23
IN its 17th year, cellist Jamie Walton’s festival presents 14 concerts designed to mirror the 14-line structure of a sonnet, guiding audiences through a pagan year with its unfolding seasons, solstices and equinoxes.
The four elements – Fire, Air, Water and Earth – will be explored through the lens of TS Eliot’s Four Quartets and staged in four historic moorland churches: St Hilda’s, Danby; St Hedda’s, Egton Bridge; St Michael’s, Coxwold, and St Mary’s, Lastingham. Ten concerts will be held in an acoustically treated venue in the grounds of Welburn Manor, near Kirkbymoorside. For the full programme, go to northyorkmoorsfestival.com. Box office: 07722 038990 or email bookings@northyorkmoorsfestival.com.
Smashing Pumpkins: Heading for Scarborough on Aghori Tour
Coastal gig of the week: Smashing Pumpkins and White Lies, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, tonight, gates 6pm
AMERICAN alternative rockers The Smashing Pumpkins play Scarborough on their Aghori Tour. Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin’s multi-platinum-selling band will be supported on the Yorkshire coast by London post-punk revival band White Lies.
Since emerging from Chicago, Illinois, in 1988 with their iconoclastic sound, Smashing Pumpkins have sold more than 30 million albums. Box office: ticketmaster.co.uk.
Brightside: Scarborough band making their NCEM debut in York
From coast to York: Piano Goes Brightside, National Centre for Early Music, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm
SCARBOROUGH band Brightside are undergoing a name change to The Waisons but not before playing this Piano Goes Brightside gig in York. In the line-up are Josh Lappao, lead guitar and vocals, Vince Lappao, drums and keyboards, Mason Marshall, guitar and vocals, and Olly Kershaw, bass guitar.
Formed to compete in a Battle of the Bands school competition, where they were placed runners-up, their two years of gigging has taken in school events, a Nativity entertainment, Christmas parties and a wedding. “We mostly do covers, but plan on making originals soon,” they say. As for the piano, progressive Scarborough pianist Jamie Kershaw will play 45 minutes of Schubert, Debussy, Ludovicio Einaudi, jazz and more. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Scarborough and District Railway Modellers’ poster for this weekend’s Pickering Model Railway Exhibition
Keeping on track: Pickering Model Railway Exhibition 2025, Memorial Hall, Potter Hill, Pickering, August 16, 10am to 5pm, and August 17, 10am to 3.30pm
ORGANISED by Scarborough and District Railway Modellers, Pickering Model Railway Exhibition features working layouts by Badger’s Bottom, Box File, Dalmunach, Farnby, Gallows Close,High Stamley,Low Key, Napier Road, Snicketway and Thomas For Kids.
Look out for model-making demonstrations by Simon Howard and Tim Penrose and trade support by DPP Model Railways, Model Market, GM Transport Books and Phoenix Games Studio. Free parking and free entry for accompanied children are further attractions; refreshments are available. Tickets: sdrmweb.co.uk.
Pickering Country Fair: Vintage tractors are among the attractions this weekend
Country pursuits of the week: Pickering Country Fair, Galtres Pickering Showground, August 16 and 17
COUNTRY sports, from mounted games and falconry, to gun dog scurries and heavy horses (Sunday only), will be complemented by ‘have-a-go’ opportunities in a chance to discover and learn about country pursuits under expert guidance. Among the highlights will be the Yorkshire Vet, Peter Wright; owl adventures; axe throwing; falconry; birds of prey; terrier racing; lurcher racing and coursing; archery; tractor pulling and a reptile display.
A vintage vehicle area features cars, commercials, fire engines and military vehicles, including tanks, along with displays of traction engines, tractors and working displays. Visitors can browse a variety of trade stands, autojumble, a craft and fine food marquee, old-time fun fair, non-stop arena entertainment, catering and a licensed bar. Tickets: outdoorshows.co.uk/pickering-country-fair. Pre-booked camping is available from midday on Friday to 10am on Monday.
Sonnets in Bloom script writer Natalie Roe, left, and director Josie Connor on a churchyard bench at Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, where York Shakespeare Project’s performances will be staged
SHAKESPEARE in poetic full bloom, arguably the best ever British farce and moorland classical music lead off Charles Hutchinson’s case for not going on holiday in August.
Poetic return of the week: York Shakespeare Project presents Sonnets In Bloom, Holy Trinity churchyard, Goodramgate, York, August 15 to 23, 6pm and 7.30pm, plus 4.30pm, August 16 and 23
REVEREND Planter is very excited that his church is hosting the regional leg of Summer in Bloom. You are warmly invited to enjoy a complimentary drink and to see the goings-on. Participants will be arriving with their prized entries, some more competitive than others, but where is the special guest? And who will win the People’s Vote?
Welcome back Sonnets In Bloom as YSP’s 50-minute summer show returns to Holy Trinity’s churchyard with a new director, Josie Connor, new scenario script writer, Natalie Roe, and nine new sonneteers among the dozen presenting a new collection of characters, each finding a way to share one of Shakespeare’s celebrated sonnets. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. Age recommendation: 14 plus.
Lucy Hook Designs’ poster for York River Art Market’s tenth anniversary
Art event of the month: York River Art Market, Dame Judi Dench Walk, by Lendal Bridge, York, today and tomorrow, August 16 and 17, 10am to 5.30pm
YORK River Art Market returns for its tenth anniversary season by the Ouse riverside railings, where 30 artists and designers will be setting up stalls each day.
Organised by York artist and tutor Charlotte Dawson, the market offers the chance to buy directly from the makers of ceramics, jewellery, paintings, prints, photographs, clothing, candles, soaps, cards and more besides. Admission is free.
Mad Alice: History talk and Georgian gin tasting at Impossible York at 4pm tomorrow
York festival of the week: York Georgian Festival 2025, until August 11
ORGANISED by York Mansion House, in tandem with York businesses, the York Georgian Festival is a whirl of dashing dandy fashions, extravagant feasting and romantic country dancing in a celebration of a golden social scene hidden within the brickwork of York’s abundant 18th century architecture.
Among the highlights will be a Promenade through the city; Georgian ice-cream cooking demonstrations; Regency Rejigged dance performances; Georgian Execution Tour with Bloody Tours of York; Mad Alice and York Gin’s history talk and Georgian gin tasting at Impossible York bar; York Georgian Ball at Grand Assembly Rooms; Portraits in Jane Austen; A Byron Letter and A Georgian Kerfuffle at York Mansion House and An Intimate History: The Life and Loves of Anne Lister at Holy Trinity, Goodramgate. For the full programme and tickets, go to: mansionhouseyork.com/york-georgian-festival.
Seven Wonders: Paying tribute to Fleetwood Mac at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre
Tribute show of the week: Seven Wonders, The Spirit Of Fleetwood Mac, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight, 7.30pm
SEVEN Wonders, a seven-piece, 100 per cent live band, cover all eras of Fleetwood Mac, from the Peter Green blues years, through Rumours, to Tango In The Night. Be prepared to dance the night away to Go Your Own Way, Don’t Stop, The Chain, Rhiannon, Dreams, Little Lies, Oh Well, Edge Of Seventeen and many more. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Alex Phelps, left, Christopher Godwin, Olivia Woolhouse, Valerie Antwi, Susan Twist, Charlie Ryan and Andy Cryer in rehearsal for Michael Frayn’s Noises Off at the SJT, Scarborough. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Play of the week: Noises Off, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, today until September 6, 7.30pm plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
SJT artistic director Paul Robinson directs the first ever in-the-round production of Michael Frayn’s legendary 1982 farce with its play-within-a- play structure. “Good luck!” said the playwright on hearing the Scarborough theatre was taking on what has always been considered an impossible task.
Noises Off follows the on and off-stage antics of a touring theatre company stumbling its way through the fictional farce Nothing On. Across three acts, Frayn charts the shambolic final rehearsals, a disastrous matinee, seen entirely from backstage and the brilliantly catastrophic final performance. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Jamie Walton: North York Moors Chamber Music Festival director and cellist. Picture: Matthew Johnson
Moorlandfestival of the week: North York Moors Chamber Music Festival, August 10 to 23
IN its 17th year, cellist Jamie Walton’s festival presents 14 concerts designed to mirror the 14-line structure of a sonnet, guiding audiences through a pagan year with its unfolding seasons, solstices and equinoxes.
The four elements – Fire, Air, Water and Earth – will be explored through the lens of TS Eliot’s Four Quartets and staged in four historic moorland churches: St Hilda’s, Danby; St Hedda’s, Egton Bridge; St Michael’s, Coxwold, and St Mary’s, Lastingham. Ten concerts will be held in an acoustically treated venue in the grounds of Welburn Manor, near Kirkbymoorside. For the full programme, go to northyorkmoorsfestival.com. Box office: 07722 038990 or email bookings@northyorkmoorsfestival.com.
Mark Radcliffe and Arlo: Dog tales at The Crescent
Shaggy dog stories of the week: Mark Radcliffe (& Arlo): In Conversation, The Crescent, August 11, 7.30pm
MARK Radcliffe, radio broadcaster, musician and writer, is one half of BBC Radio 1′s semi-legendary Mark and Lard and one half of BBC 6Music’s Radcliffe & Maconie. Now he introduces his new double-act partner, his beloved pampered Cavapoo, Arlo, as featured in the book Et Tu, Cavapoo?, published by Corsair on August 14.
In March 2024, Radcliffe and Arlo set off from Cheshire in their VW Beetle convertible for a three-month sojourn in Rome. Join them in conversation for an account of their time amid the sights (and sniffs) of the Italian capital in a show for lovers of travel and history, food and drink, art and architecture, and those seeking an insight into the eccentricities of the canine mind. This event combines a book signing, an interview with a special guest host and a chance to put questions to Mark (and Arlo). Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Smashing Pumpkins: Heading to Scarborough on Aghori Tour
Coastal gig of the week: Smashing Pumpkins and White Lies, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, August 13, gates 6pm
AMERICAN alternative rockers The Smashing Pumpkins play Scarborough on their Aghori Tour. Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin’s multi-platinum-selling band will be supported on the Yorkshire coast by London post-punk revival band White Lies.
Since emerging from Chicago, Illinois, in 1988 with their iconoclastic sound, Smashing Pumpkins have sold more than 30 million albums. Box office: ticketmaster.co.uk.
Scarborough band Brightside: Making NCEM debut on August 14
From coast to York: Piano Goes Brightside, National Centre for Early Music, York, August 14, 7.30pm
SCARBOROUGH band Brightside are undergoing a name change to The Waisons but not before playing this Piano Goes Brightside gig in York. In the line-up are Josh Lappao, lead guitar and vocals, Vince Lappao, drums and keyboards, Mason Marshall, guitar and vocals, and Olly Kershaw, bass guitar.
Formed to compete in a Battle of the Bands school competition, where they were placed runners-up, their two years of gigging has taken in school events, a Nativity entertainment, Christmas parties and a wedding. “We mostly do covers, but plan on making originals soon,” they say. As for the piano, progressive Scarborough pianist Jamie Kershaw will play 45 minutes of Schubert, Debussy, Ludovicio Einaudi, jazz and more. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Geoff Turner’s Sir Thomas Graspallin The Raree Show or The Fox Trap’t. Picture: Gareth Buddo
IMAGINE the joy of Sarah Cowling, York tour guide and Churches Conservation Trust volunteer at Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, when research led to the discovery of the writings of Mr Joseph Peterson.
Parish records show that Peterson gave his living as “comedian” in the register at his son Joseph’s baptism in January 1738. Actor, writer and comedian would be more accurate, given that Peterson’s career blossomed at the Norwich Theatre Company from 1746 after working for Thomas Keregan’s company in York.
Yet before his exit stage left to Norfolk, York-born Peterson wrote expressly for his home city, and now Cowling is directing Holy Trinity’s revival of his first theatrical romp in a traverse staging at Merchant Taylors’ Hall, where it is thought the hour-long comedy might have been first performed.
There will be only one performance, tonight at 7.30pm, sold out alas, but last night’s dress rehearsal played to pretty much a full house too, so it had the atmosphere more befitting a first night.
Wood is everywhere: doors, dark panels on the walls, the floor, but thankfully not in the acting, led by Nick Patrick Jones’s Mr Joseph Peterson, introducing his piece of 18th century theatrical shenanigans in couplets, in the manner of Shakespeare’s Puck.
Jones will reappear as Peterson’s most exaggerated character, the coxcomb Sir Fopling Conceit, a narcissist as foppish and vain as his name, surely heading for a fall.
He is not alone in Peterson’s parade of vainglorious peacocks: step forward Geoff Turner’s Sir Thomas Graspall, in his case headed for a pratfall via the Raree Show of the title: a tented peep show that invites him to look inside. The Fox trap’t indeed.
Step forward with even more braggadocio Joe Standerline’s thunderous foxhunting enthusiast Squire Timothy, as quick on the bottom slaps as outrageous boasts.
They will be outwitted in a battle of wits by the womanly wiles of Mad Alice (York tour guide Alicia Stabler) in the guise of Betty, together with Joy Warner’s Corinna and Andrea Mitchell’s Belinda.
Further undermining the pompous posturing are the earnest machinations of Zander Fick’s Belamour and Matt Tapp’s Manly.
Standerline pops up too as Peterson’s answer to Shakespeare’s Fool, the self-explanatory Smart, albeit in a cameo, but one where he has fun with a hammy French accent and moustache.
Peterson crams into his hour all the tropes of Georgian theatre: the wigs and the topical wit; the daft names and even dafter characters; villainous uncles, astute servants and absurdist foreigners; physical buffoonery, clashing swords and verbal spats; putdowns and comeuppances; unhappy exits and the obligatory happy ending.
Then add Georgian style to compliment the foppery and frippery, further boosted by the perky musicality of Nicky Gladstone’s violin and Chantal Berry’s keyboard.
The last word goes to Jones’s Peterson, who is unnecessarily apologetic about the standard of his debut work. What’s more, it won’t be the last word if Sarah Cowling has her way. “There’s a whole catalogue of these funny little York-grown Georgian shows,” she says. “I really hope we can unearth more.”
Posting eggs allowed limited resources to be shared: one of the exhibits at Ryedale Folk Museum
RYEDALE Folk Museum is sharing the ingenuity and toil behind historic food production in the Making A Meal Of It exhibition until November 30.
From field to table, the story of food is one of resilience, ingenuity, and sheer hard work. This is the story behind Ryedale Folk Museum’s latest exhibition, ‘Making a Meal of It’, on display this season until Sunday 30 November.
Museum director Jennifer Smith says: “The exhibition really highlights the incredible resourcefulness of the people of the past. Food production was no easy task. From farmers and bakers to brewers and beekeepers, people relied on skill, knowledge and hard graft to put food on the table.”
From field to table, the story of food is one of resilience, as shown in the exhibition of compelling Yorkshire stories, set against a national and, at times, global context of historic and contemporary food production.
The importance of Ryedale as a centre of food production has long been recognised. “Local food not only nourished the farmers and labourers of Ryedale but also found its way to the manufacturing hubs of the West Riding and beyond,” says Jennifer. “Food produced in North Yorkshire travelled by cart, barge and railway to feed people across the country and overseas.”
Making Bread, from the Making A Meal Of it exhibition at Ryedale Folk Museum
Making A Meal Of It delves into the lives of those who grafted to produce, preserve and prepare food across a range of historic periods. Jennifer explains: “The exhibition brings these stories to life, revealing not just what people ate, but how much effort went into every loaf of bread, every slice of ham, or even a spoonful of honey. These food items were so precious to the people of the past. It feels like a bit of a cliché to say it, but nothing was wasted.
“In the exhibition, we’ve really tried to get to the heart of why that was, and what life was like as ordinary people were buffeted by forces beyond their control – be that policy making and politics, or even the whims of the weather, all affecting how they were able to feed their families.”
The exhibition also reflects on how food production has evolved to meet the demands of an ever-growing global population. While modern technology and farming techniques have vastly increased food output, the challenges of sustainability and climate change, and the impact of mass production on food quality, remain pressing concerns for many.
“There are some interesting parallels and key differences between the past and present,” says Jennifer. “We often take food for granted today, but in the past it was a precious commodity, even a matter of life and death. We hope this exhibition may perhaps spark some ideas to help us make better use of our food supplies today.”
Entry to Making A Meal Of It is included in admission to the museum. Ryedale Folk Museum is open Saturday to Thursday (closed on Fridays).
